Well it did take me a bit longer than I had anticipated, but here is the third official member of the League of Guardians, Ardere. He's a big hulking brute of a Toa, with a lot of system on him...I had vastly underestimated how much orange I actually had. Have to give a big shout-out to the old Mars Mission and Agents themes, since their sets provided me with basically all of the orange system present on this moc. I also apologize for the somewhat crappy pictures; everyone knows white Lego on white backgrounds never turns out too well. Hopefully you can see everything.

STORY: Ardere began in an alternate dimension as a Matoran of plasma, who was eventually transformed into a Toa and sent to Metru Nui to join over 200 of his brothers and sisters in defending the city against the Dark Hunters, who were looking to set up a base there. He was a particularly hardy and strong Matoran worker, and this translated to his increased height and added bulk when he was transformed into a Toa. His plasma powers were especially strong against oncoming Dark Hunters, as he could melt anything from their ships that docked at shore to their own armor. His Mask of Emulation also came in handy as well, allowing him to mimic other moves the Dark Hunters performed and surprise them with their own tactics.

Unfortunately, the Dark Hunters were relentless in their desire to acquire the city, and Toa were disappearing left and right. Ardere was one of them, though he was not captured by Dark Hunters; he was instead abducted by a group of heavily armed Vortixx and was taken to the island of Nynrah. He had quickly discovered that this particular band of Nynrah Ghosts had struck a deal with the Vortixx weapon smiths: the Vortixx needed a more efficient energy system for their Hagah Plasma Cannon prototype, and the Ghosts had suggested that they could possibly harness the elemental energy a Toa possessed to power the cannon. Naturally, both had agreed that a Toa of Plasma was ideal—with a nearly limitless supply of destructive energy, the Vortixx could power a Hagah Plasma Cannon without ever having to refill it with ammunition.

They commenced operations on Ardere, and were successful in draining all of his elemental energy—Ardere had effectively become a big, hulking, powerless Matoran, with no means to escape from the lab he was trapped in. But then again, Ardere was big and hulking, and his strength came in handy. With all of the might he could muster, he freed himself from his bonds and quickly grabbed the two canisters that glowed orange with his elemental power. He was able to attach the canisters to his back, and with enough experimentation, he connected the canisters to his torso completely, allowing his elemental energy to once again flow through his veins. However, because of his prolonged absence from his power, it would take him years to finally regain his full elemental strength and get rid of the canisters on his back.

The canisters weighed Ardere down, and he was discovered by the Nynrah Ghosts and an intense chase ensued. Ardere was able to take out one, two, three of the rogue Matoran—but before he could react, two more had struck his legs. He tried calling upon his elemental power, but he was only able to produce a minuscule amount of plasma that could barely singe a piece of paper; he never got the chance to do so, however, since one of the Ghosts had instantly chopped his hand off as soon as Ardere had tried using his power over plasma. Enraged, Ardere retaliated, sending two of the Ghosts right into a wall and the last one into a pool of energized protodermis. Before he left, Ardere stole the one working prototype of the Hagah Plasma Cannon from the lab—it would eventually become his left hand after extensive surgery.

He was discovered by a group of wandering Toa, and was instantly nursed back to health. The plasma cannon was hooked up directly to the canisters on his back, so he was able to use it at full strength and with devastating effect. Years went by, and Ardere's plasma powers grew stronger; when Vezon had arrived to enlist him in the League of Guardians, Ardere's plasma powers were nearly identical to that of any normal Toa of Plasma. Ardere became the tank of the League, allowing him to mow down enemies with his plasma cannon while also serving as a very effective melee soldier. He long awaits the day where he can finally release his burden and return to his former glory.

Lower legs. I'm a big fan of the Mars Mission rover wheels as leg armor, and the white dagger pieces came out great.

Thighs.

Back of his legs.

Waist and torso. No lie: the entire torso is basically resting on that one white Inika arm piece. He does have that waist articulation point though, which gives him around 150° of front-to-back motion and 5° of side-to-side motion. This probably has to be the most stable, least pleasing torso build I've ever done. It doesn't look too bad, but it's just built so terribly that I can't wait to tear it down after I'm done with Ardere. I do think the Takanuva finger-claws look epic as torso side armor, though.

Right arm, with hand. That blocky upper arm is just so ugly...

Left arm, with the giant frickin' cannon.

His shoulders, upper torso, and that handsome face! Another custom head for you guys; this one, however, I'm not as proud of as I was with Bovema's.

From the side. I have to say, the mask design makes him look pretty old and wise, at least to me.

Ardere, in all of his glory.

A side angle shot. Here you can see the extent of his "hunchback" as a result of the canisters and my torso design.

A backside diagonal shot. Once again, thanks Mars Mission for the containment tubes.

Side shot.

Ready for anything.

Controlling the power of plasma from the tips of his fingers! He wears a grey "glove" over his hand so that his hand isn't suddenly melted by the ever-increasing power he has over plasma.

Epic pose!

Fwoosh. Your face is probably melted to slag by now.

Brandishing his Plasma Cannon Arm.

Pew pew pew!

Like a boss.

With the flamethrower attached to the side of his cannon arm, he can create a stream of plasma intertwined with superheated flame! #crazyawesome

Just another shot of dat cannon.

You're about to get F@#$ed.

When the going gets tough and close-quarters combat is necessary, Ardere can summon...

...the Double Plasma Sabre!

Made of a superheated protosteel blade, it can melt other blades to slag mid-slice.

Gazing off into the distance.

When employed in tandem with his plasma cannon, Ardere is able to cause catastrophic damage to enemies near and far!

Walking epically. Probably should photoshop an explosion in the background.

The sword itself.

The dynamic duo. Bovema stands at around 8 inches (20 cm) tall, while Ardere stands at close to 10 inches (24 cm) tall. Both of them are shorter than Curatos, who is closer to 11 inches (26 cm) tall.

B-b-b-b-brofist!

And Ardere bids farewell! Please do rate and comment, and I encourage you to check out Toa Bovema and Toa Curatos as well. Thanks for dropping by!